Monday, April 4, 2011

The Blond has been gone since 1962, for almost 50 years!. .. But, the aura of 20th century film star still lingers on and strong. Is there anything else that we don’t know about this woman? This woman who still holds a grasp on our imagination after all these years? Well, the answer is “yes.” A fantastic new book has just been published by Abrams Books, called M M – PERSONAL: from the Private Archive of MARILYN MONROE.

Lois & Mark

What makes this standout from your standard Marilyn book, is the mystery of it, or to be precise; two large metal file cabinets that once belonged to her, and that have been missing since her death. Enter well known celebrity photographer Mark Anderson. Originally from Australia, Mark is a photographer pal of mine who used to do some shoots at my old Hollywood hangout and workplace, the late, great, The Ambassador Hotel. I lost contact with him for a couple years, after I losing my job, when the Los Angeles Unified School District decided to demolish the landmark hotel (which by the way, was where Marilyn Monroe was first discovered at the Blue Book Modeling Agency that was located inside the hotel.)

The MM Treasure Chests!

Mark seemed to kind of fell off the face of the earth? But, one day we did finally connect on the phone. And when I asked him “what have you been up too?” That’s when he started the ball rolling with this wild incredible story of Marilyn’s missing file cabinets. I just remember saying things like; “What?” and “wow” over and over again. Mark told me how he was contacted by a mysterious man, and how he drove out on a rainy, stormy night forty miles east of downtown L.A. to see some items that presumably belonged to Marilyn Monroe? The man told Mark, he wanted to photograph some of these items and if he would be interested in being the photographer? Mark, being the gregarious and curious Aussie, he is, took a chance on his story, not knowing if he was going out on a weird & wild goose chase? He found more than he bargained for…

A Special Guest?

To make a long story, into a shot blog; after a 2008 cover story in Vanity Fair on the lost Marilyn treasures, that featured several pages of photos that Mark took. His next step was to do a book (according to Mark that’s a book in itself!) he teamed up with Lois Banner, (who teaches a course actually on MM at USC) after noticing an LA WEEKLY with Marilyn on the cover (that featured Lois) when he stopped for a coffee on his way to his daily MM excavation.And I gotta tell you, they seem to be at first glance, a strange pairing, but it worked. I just think it's so funny that these two people who were brought together by someone that that they had never meet, who's been gone for almost five decades. And just to tell you, I'm just glazing over the whole story, I'm not even gonna attempt to fill in all the blanks here...

The MM Dream Team

Mark brings down the house, as he show the look on Lois's face, when see first laid eyes on the file cabinets!

So when I got an invitation to their book signing at Book Soup in West Hollywood (a wonderful bookstore by the way, with pretty redheads), I couldn’t miss it. So, I grabbed my trusty Olympus camera and went. It was a nice night, Lois spoke of MM (and she really knows her stuff!) she said that; MM is one of the most complex females of all time… and that has to be her appeal? Also Mark did a slide show of some of his wonderful images that are featured in the book. Mark said that part of the reason it took him so long to photograph the items is, that he’s end up reading everything! He just couldn’t help himself (and wouldn’t you? I know, I would have!) Among some of the nights highlights, Mark gave a wonderful story about having figured out that an obscure letter was written by Marilyn in the guise of the family dog Hugo! The letter was to her young stepchildren by Arthur Miller, who as Hugo, she apologized for being naughty & chewing up their things. But perhaps the most humorous moment of the evening was Mark’s imitation of Lois, when he introduced her to the Marilyn’s file cabinets for the first time.

This brings me to the question... haven’t we gotten over Marilyn yet? Apparently not? Something about that woman still grabs us… I don’t know what it is? All I can say is if you have an interest in the legend that is or the person that was Marilyn; By all means pick up this book.

Mark, MM & Ray

And FYI, I always figured that I was pretty immune to MM hoodoo... she was someone for Hollywood Boulevard tourist? But a few months ago, I was rummaging through so things and found a German poster for The Misfits (her last film & my favorite.) I must have picked up somewhere? I have no idea, but it was in black & white, nice graphics; I ended up hanging it up over my bed. Then, I remembered that when my grandfather passed away a few years ago and he just loved MM, as I said good bye to him, I slipped in his coat pocket a small photo of Marilyn...Man, I just wish that I somehow get this book to him!